Surgeons today have a wide variety of sutures from which to choose. Both traditional materials such as gut, and newer materials such as absorbable sutures are available in a number of sizes, and a pre-cut length of suture material is typically swaged to a needle to create an armed suture. Several armed sutures are usually provided as part of a sterile package. Thus, during surgery, the sterile package is opened to expose a dispenser holding several armed sutures. It is of course necessary to retain the needles in a stable yet easily released manner so that a needle holder can be armed and provided to the surgeon. The location at which the needle is retained is generally referred to as a "needle park." The removal of the needle and use of the suture should not be impeded by the needle park and the manner in which the suture material is retained in the dispenser, nor should the dispenser permit the suture material to become twisted or kinked.
Originally, sutures were coiled and packaged in paper folders that were simply unfolded or opened to freely dispense the suture material. Such packaging, however, was difficult to fill and close. Also, paper packages did not present a good base for retaining the needle in a position where it could be easily accessed by the needle holder. Sutures packaged in paper folders also present disadvantages in handling.
Suture dispensers are known that comprise a plastic tray that forms a circular track in which the suture material is laid. A peelable foil cover overlies the tray and the needles are clipped between the sides of channels or similar structures molded into the plastic tray. An example of this type of dispenser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,898--Thyen et al. A variation of this type of package is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,498--Kalinski et al. which discloses a two-piece plastic tray that defines an enclosed channel for retaining the suture material. A one-piece plastic tray that forms a substantially enclosed channel using a series of moveable locking flaps is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,902--Sobel et al. Another design of a plastic tray that provides a needle park and retains a plurality of armed sutures is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,565--Sinn.
However, the foregoing packages all suffer from several drawbacks, the primary being the overall expense of the package. The plastic trays found in the prior art require precision molded parts and frequently require time consuming loading methods to deposit a bundle of suture material in the outer channel. Closing the package can also be somewhat awkward, as the suture material is frequently resilient enough to spring outwardly from its coiled configuration when not restrained. Additionally, currently available plastic tray-type suture packages are bulkier than an ideal package. This bulkiness is a disadvantage because it reduces the number of dispensers that can fit into a given amount of storage space.
Thus, there exists a long-felt and unfulfilled need for a suture dispenser that is easily wound with suture material and that provides a reliable needle park that overcomes the deficiencies of both the paper folders and the plastic trays found in the prior art. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a suture dispenser that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a package with a central opening through which the needle is accessed and the suture material dispensed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser with a needle park disposed in the vicinity of a central opening with a needle positioned so it is visible and easily accessed, preferably from either side of the package. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser that is of a minimum thickness so that the packaging density of a number of dispensers in a container is maximized.